Star Wars: Raiders of the Lost Empires

Due to the recent stresses of adventuring, and a complete lack of fuel, Captain James Riley ordered a rest and vacation at the infamous Haven. The space station was filled with blood pits, sabacc tables, bars and sin, and was the go to place for every manner of scum and villainy who wanted to associate without the violence, for once.

Perhaps inevitably, the relaxation was short-lived. An infamous bounty hunter with extensive means named Duane Chapman took the station hostage. Claiming to have a nuclear device rigged into the premises, he demanded the capture of one Johnathan Winters who was taking refuge in Haven. To back himself, he seemed to have deployed crack teams of Mandalorian mercenaries, skilled mechanics and at least one hacker of exceptional quality.

With a daring display of martial ability, Avery Coke, Salvador 'Sal' Calavera and Spartacus Hughes managed to drive off a squadron of Mandalorians from the Mynock and free it from ray shield lockdown. However, in spite of the best efforts of newly hired Xiszek Remno, the docking bay itself remained completely shut off from the outside.

After acquiring a communicator from Jaina Winters, Johnathon's (now) deceased wife, the heroes were left with several options: call the mysterious Jensaarai,

investigate where Duane Chapman actually was, or find and disarm the nuclear device, which they had reason to believe was placed around or in the water containment area of Haven. Opting for the latter, the met strong opposition in the form of the resurgent Mandalorians who had set a trap for them. After a deadly struggle that nearly cost them their lives, the adventurers were able to best the disciplined commandos, but the cost may have been too high as their injuries will make it difficult to continue...

As for my stake in all this? Well, dear reader,
that's another matter altogether.

Acts 1-3

A man in his late twenties – handsome, if awkward – is rushing alone through the darkened streets of Nar Shaddaa. Around him infrastructure looks frozen in the act of collapsing: wires hang loosely, lights word erratically and makeshift walkways connect ramshackle buildings that struggle for space with one another. In dark and still, only the man seems to move – his heavy panting is deafening and hoarse.
He stops and catches his breath, under his arm a dark green box is clutched by white-knuckled hands. In the distance, the fast approaching sounds of a train make his him raise his head. He resumes his run. He races up a set of stairs two-at-a-time onto the platform of an empty train station seemingly lit by stars alone. The man looks back over his shoulder, and his eyes widen in fear. “How is that possible!?” he groans. A deep blue blaster bolt ricochets off the handrail and the man dives for cover. The sounds of the train rush through the station accompanied by the screeching of long-worn brakes. A shower of bolts flies over head, some hitting the train. The man looks back at the source, then to the train, then back again as the train doors open under a hail of fire…

The heroes sat around a table at a hot jazz bar in Nar Shaddaa. They are hearing a tale from Grun, a large man concerned for his nephew's safety. His name: Elias. Elias is an artifact hunter like them, only he's run into the wrong side of trouble in the forgotten levels of the Smuggler's Moon. There's only one way to get there: via the Ol'33 - train that's been drifting autonomously for centuries through the uninhabited districts delivering ghosts to empty stations.

On the way to the train station, the heroes met a Rodian arms dealer who, amongst other items, held a rather unique, powerful set of EMP grenades - a few of which were promptly purchased.

Continuing, the train station beckoned and the players were surprised to see another man, a drifter by all appearances, riding the rails. Although he was approached and provoked, he seemed not only uninterested in the protagonists, but outright disdainful. When the train arrived, they kept an eye on him, but were soon distracted by a body lying across the tracks - heroically salvaged by Salvador 'Sal' Calavera. His datapad pointed them toward the expeditions last stop - the very next one.

The train having left with the old stranger aboard, the eroes walked along the tracks and then exited the next station. Upon exploration of the level they found, curious in this area, signs of life in the desolate wreckage of the forgotten levels. An old prison had a light shining out of it like a beacon. The prison was home to Hal and his five prisoners - Hal himself being there in self-imposed exile after the death of his family.

Unfortunately, although he seemed affable, if odd, Hal also turned out to be quite mad. He tricked the characters into descending into the abandoned prison levels - rife with viscera and the signs of men turned feral and forgotten in the underground complex for decades. trapped in the complex they were ambushed by the prisoners but managed to beat them all back. They also found a second body of one of Elias men - no doubt lured - who had suffered the fate intended for them - being cannibalized alive. His discarded bag held a com-link that contained Elias contact details, and it was just as well, because the young archaeologist was in a lot of trouble and he knew a way out of the prison.

Racing to his rescue, the heroes spotted an unexpected witness - Elias brother, who clutched the relic tightly and hid under Sal's protection while the other three confronted the Old Man who was a bounty hunter gone mad that lived to protect the secrets of deepest Nar Shaddaa. With stunning marksmanship, and a quick dive, Spartacus Hughes managed to save Elias from being hung by a cord. The protagonists got the better of his would-be murderer despite his personal shields and stealth suit, and, as he fled, Emily Swanson used her EMP grenade to knock out his defenses leaving Avery Coke to deliver the final blow with consummate skill.

Acts 1-3

Our heroes weaved through the fungus jungles of Felucia grasping their first treasure - an ivory statue with crystalline eyes. The monolithic flora was accompanied by exotic animals chirping and barking around them – the sounds always seeming close, but sources never visible. The eyes of the figurine glow and the heroes are suddenly attacked from all sides by a seemingly endless tide of Felucians. In the distant the coming of yet more of the tribe - and something far larger and more terrifying - were enough to lead the treasure hunters to flight. They were forced toward a wooden bridge that extended across a long canyon - covered in wrist-thick vines and a fluorescent, mossy substance. They attampted the perilous crossing as the tide poured in behind them until Spartacus Hughes heroically severed the bridge, while still on it, swinging to the other-side with a dashing display of derring-do.

Cutting to Bandomeer, Tatooine, Corellia and Nar Shaddaa, we found the origins of our protagonists and their staunch willingness to do the job set before them and their reasons for attempting such undertakings as we are witnessing.
Flasing forward to The Mynock, Captain James Riley and The Crew are briefing for the Felucian mission. “After you recover the statue, you’ll need to locate the Togrutan tribe on the other side of this chasm and get them to show you where the wreck is. Kell tells me that Torgutans are usually civilised, but, if they’re not, you’ll have to find a way to convince them to help you. Once you locate the wreckage of the Organa you need to assess whether it’s able to be recovered and rebuilt, or whether it’s scrap. Your second objective is to recover the lost Jedi Data and get their pass-codes from the ship’s computers. Any other loot you can find will be a final objective, if you have time to search the ship thoroughly. Any questions?" The details were sorted through and so it was back to Felucia.

Upon entering an oddly placed glade some time after the chasm fight, the brave adventurers noticed the jungle begins to shift and grow and merge so perfectly that, without quite noticing when it happened, they found themselves in a make-shift fungal ‘chamber’.
The air began to thicken with spores and their masks could barely contain the poisonous enviroment. Though threatened by the vines that strapped all but Emily Swanson's nimble feet to the ground, the heroes managed to fend off the Felucian druids that assailed them and take, for a prize, their Boga mounts who would prove exceptional useful for navigating the complex jungle terrain.

After four long hours of tracking, it was Salvador 'Sal' Calavera who finally found signs of the Togrutan tribe. Approaching one of the native scouts, the party managed to comport themselves in such a manner that they were led to the village the Togrutans had built into the fungus jungle. They were told of the enmity between the Togrutans and Felucians, the forgotten cities of the Gossam - destroyed in The Second Galactic Civil War and now overrun with Felucians - and led to a mysterious force ghost of their ancestor, Shaak Ti. Shaak Ti showed them a path to their objective, but warned them that they would be travelling through a Force Nexus, and each would see the manner of their death before reaching the end of the labyrinth.

Taking the mysterious path through a fog of phosphorescent spores, each character met with his doom - a dark figure, wielding a Sith lightsaber and moving as if in a dream. Everyone seemed to be fighting for their right to exist and as the mysterious Darth's blade cut into them, they saw their own death's, at his hand, in a stark chamber open to space thanks to its canopy of glass. Having banished the dream with impressive mental strength, and perhaps not quite knowing what to make of it all, the party left the undergound and at last found the wreckage of the Organa.

Gaining entry to the ship was one thing, but, as the party located the computer files, they looked out of the cockpit upon a most unwelcome sight: the Felucian hordes had found them - and with them was the being they had heard called The Leviathan. In the belly of the ship Sal and Avery held at bay the innumerable Felucians while the schematics downloaded.
In the cockpit, Emily desperately struggled with the archaic computers and downloaded the Jedi files while Spartacus and Black Betty turned to The Leviathan as it opened the cockpit like a tin can. as the computers finished downloading, the Mynock swept in dramatically, star-cannons blazing, over the glorious stand that was being taken below. Forcing their way out through the hordes with with their Destiny Points, Sal and Avery arrived just as Spartacus literally lept from the jaws of the Leviathan onto the rope ladders hanging from the Mynock and the party were pulled to safety amongst the roar of engines and pounding gunfire from above.

It's been a long time between jobs for the crew of the Mynock, but they've finally hit on a lead. Unfortunately that lead takes them to the planet of Felucia - a cesspit of disease and angry natives that crawl over the fungus jungle like ants over a jam doughnut.

This might be the biggest break they've seen in a long time, though, and everyone knows it. CR-90, the flagship of the once mighty House of Organa was thought long lost to history.

Importantly, too, the jedi codes used by Obi-wan Kenobi and Yoda to begin secret communications with the last of the Jedi after the purge are hidden away on that ship. With those logs and pass-codes, one could unlock all kinds of mysteries, if one were so inclined.

It almost seems too good to be true... but, then, it's hard not to have a bad feeling about the mission when you're strapping on breath masks and air-dropping into a place like Felucia.

As for my stake in all this? Well, dear reader,
that's another matter altogether.